Rhodes quits Test cricket, Cullinan out of one-day side

In a development which signals the gradual changing of the guard in South African cricket, Jonty Rhodes announced his retirement from Test cricket with Daryll Cullinan, for the second time, quitting the one-day game.

Both players will still be available for South Africa in the other forms of the game - Rhodes hopes to make the 2003 World Cup while Cullinan wants to realise a long-held ambition of playing in the West Indies.

But both are now in their 30s with young families and the strain of going out on the road for South Africa for months on end has finally taken its toll.

Cullinan tried to phase himself out of the one-day side at the start of this year, but was press-ganged by the United Cricket Board to make himself available when two-year contracts were negotiated in mid-year. As a sort of final fling, Cullinan was used as an opener in last four Standard Bank one-day internationals against New Zealand, but, as Cullinan himself admitted, the ploy was hardly a success.

"I haven't responded to the challenge the way I should have," said Cullinan.

The decision of Rhodes to step down from Test cricket, however, is more of a surprise.

Regarded as an exceptional one-day player from the moment he first appeared for South Africa during the 1992 World Cup, Rhodes has always sought the credibility and acceptance that comes from succeeding at the highest level of the game.

A batting slump in the mid 1990s cost him his Test place, but he re-established himself during the 1998 tour of England when he scored a century at Lord's.

General wear and tear and the responsibilities of fatherhood have prompted a reassessment of his priorities. He has been told no longer field at backward point for Natal by physiotherapist Craig Smith and he believes that he would not make 2003 playing both Test and one-day cricket.

New contracts for both players will be negotiated, although United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher does not believe that this will lead to the complete separation of South Africa's Test and one-day sides. He said that both Cullinan and Rhodes were exceptional cases.

It is not entirely clear what the position of the players will be as regards their commitments to their provinces, but Bacher said that the door was still open for negotiation. Rhodes will not be playing in Natal's SuperSport Series match against Western Province this weekend.

The short term effect of Rhodes' decision will be to open another middle order place in the South African Test team. With Herschelle Gibbs still serving his suspension, it seems likely that Boeta Dippenaar will open with South Africa with Neil McKenzie coming in at five.